Sewing

I have never had the patience that sewing requires a person to have...therefore, I always give up on whatever I'm doing before I should, or I just rush through it, mistakes and all...just so I can say I'm done with it.

Since I've been staying home, I've decided to pull the dusty sewing machine from in the closet, down...and really give it a shot. I've had to use my seam ripper a billion times, but I'm giving it my all! I'm working on a quilt for our bed right now, and have been having a hay day making handle holders for my cast-iron skillets.

I started with finished seams on my handle holders, but then decided I liked the unfinished edge look better. So here they are...really easy. But fun! And now I won't burn my hands when grabbing a hot handle!

Katelynn is getting an upper molar right now, and therefore is being a little stinker and making it impossible to teach Halie today. Dad had to leave for Martinsdale very early this morning and has issues with the word 'quiet' so he managed to wake Katelynn up two hours earlier than normal.

Halie is reading a book right now and making it her own. I love hearing her turn a storybook into whatever she can think up. It never really makes sense, but it's good for her.

She doesn't know about her bed
And her bed is so nice and comfy and she just climbs in.
And something really happens, but you just do what she says.
And the big cat is going to bite you if you go touch her, and she's not nice.
And I love Cinderella.
And Jack and Gus are making a cake.
The dog pooped and I said NOO!
You go outside!
The clock and the apples of the cookies, really get nervous.
And she doesn't really happen about that!

That's Halie's story. I think it has something to do with Cinderella...but maybe it just has her name in it. Anyways, I think today Halie will have to wait until Katelynn naps for mommy to read and teach her.

My little Katelynn just came up to me and said "Poopf?" so looks like I have a task at hand! And a stinky one at that!

I took the girls to see a play at the elementary school in town today. The Missoula Children's Theater came to Harlowton to teach all the kids Robinson Crusoe in a week (five days actually), and then they got to preform today! Pretty good job for only having practiced for five days. Anyways, Halie loved it and Katelynn raised an eye-brow a couple times...but mainly stuck with flirting with the people behind us and shouting out baby words, with an occassional, embarrasing toot, followed by the words "Ki-Ki!", which means Stinky but I just let everyone else think she was saying Kitty. She likes to tell me all about her bodily functions...I wonder where she gets that (rolling my eyes)? "Poopf?" and "Ki-Ki" and "Ew". She's a hoot.

After we left the play, my friend and I took the girls to get a soft-serve (BAD Mallory!) and well, I haven't counted points since then today. I figure if I don't mess up every once in awhile, then I'm no longer human. It was good! I ended up finishing Halie's (Strike TWO!) because, she couldn't keep up and she kept getting brain freeze. She didn't seem to mind.

My hubby was searching the fridge and pantry for food when I got home, and so he sat down with a bowl of chips, and shared with the girls while I made dinner. We had Chicken, bacon, cheddar, burgers with honey mustard, shrooms and onions. I ate almost a whole sandwich (Strike THREE!).

Today was not a good day for Weight Watchers. Tomorrow is running, strength training and eating right! We're doing family pictures too!

Today was a somewhat productive day. We woke up, got Dad out the door and ate our usual breakfast of Cheerios and fruit. Then it was just off to the races as soon as Katelynn got out of her high chair! I managed to vacuum with a baby on my hip, but now am stuck wondering why I even try to keep the floors clean because it never fails that when we come in from playing outside, someone 'forgets' to take their shoes off (me usually...go figure!) and tracks dirt in. Blah. Then I start over. I got some much needed dusting done too. I'm really trying to prepare for Dusk tomorrow (when Sabbath begins).

Katelynn is finally walking now (16 months old), although she's still got a ways to go with balancing her new-found act. Walking means getting into more things, although I'm not sure how she does it considering she can't move very fast...but she does manage to sneak off and keep me on my toes. She's talking way more than Halie was at this age. Everytime we go stand by the window, she points down to the ranch below us where all the cows are and says, "C-OOW?" It's really cute. She's also really taking a liking to her dad which is good to see. It truly is amazing how much you can forget about what babies do, until you have another one to remind you. Then you're thinking, Oh yeah, I remember when that happened with the first!

Halie is learning to read 3 letter words. I mix them up on a daily basis, but also stick to similar words so she can familiarize herself with what she's reading. It's motivation for her. As soon as she reads a word, she'll proudly exclaim, "I DID IT!" and then she'll stick out her hand for a high-five. Numbers seem to be a bit trickier. We're counting well up to the number 13 and can recognize them for the most part. We have all the letters down along with the sounds they make. I keep thinking how I'm going to teach her bigger words, but we're still a ways off from there. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Ryan is working his hiney off with the business, which slowed for awhile, but is picking up again. Praise God for always coming through. Of course he'd much rather do just locksmithing, but he seems to be great at construction too. At least he has work! There seem to be many out there struggling so bad with the way things have gone down in this country. Jobs are becoming harder to come by (and keep) and we just pray that what Ryan has going, will continue. Believe me, this whole mess has definitely affected us too. In the meantime, I'm holding down the fort here at home and really learning to enjoy the peacefulness living out here brings. Rarely do I get lonely anymore. My kids keep me happy and I have some good friends in town who I visit with once a week or so. It's hard to get bored out here with two kiddos keeping me running around all day!

The house is a total construction zone right now, and things are coming together slowly but surely. Before next winter, we'll have sheet rock up, and our kitchen will begin getting a face-lift. At least we're making progress (and all my windows are done in the front room! Wee!).

Halie's Family

From left, to right: Katelynn, Pinky (the dog), Daddy, Mommy and Halie. (Halie said to Daddy, "You have hair and Mommy is big!") Little kids crack me up.